As Yet Untitled Love Hina Fic
by DhampyrX2
Summary: What if Keitaro had another ace in the hole to tap besides Su's explosives and the Hina blade? How will that change everything from that point on? To quote a certain fruitcake priest...sore wa himitsu desu.
1. Chapter 1

Title: none yet

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: Drama/humor X-over

Rating: PG-13 to R at some point

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

Notes: My own unique take on the battle between Tsuruko, Motoko, and Keitaro. Title suggestions are appreciated.

Okay, this is just an idea that's been floating around that I thought I'd start here. Reviews, revisions, and criticism are welcome.

This starts off during the tail end of the fight with Tsuruko at the end of Ep. 25 and will run from there with very little following the rest of the story line in canon because it will involve a great deal more of the Aoyama family than was used after the fight. Also, Naru isn't my favorite character. I don't hate her, and I'll try not to bash, but you have been warned.

Summary: What if Keitaro had another ace in the hole to tap besides Su's explosives and the Hina blade? How will that change everything from that point on? To quote a certain fruitcake priest...sore wa himitsu desu.

* * *

_Indicates Thoughts._

"Indicates Speech."

Indicates foreign speech.

* * *

_Alright, this is officially INSANE!_ Urashima Keitaro thought to himself as he was tossed into the air by the collateral damage of another of Aoyama Tsuruko's attacks against her younger sister Motoko. The pair of Keitaro and Motoko were currently trying their hardest to defeat the more experienced swordswoman to regain Motoko's right to practice her family kendo school, the Shinmeiryuu, once more. 

That was the prize, a return from the banishment Motoko suffered for pretending to be involved with her landlord and dorm manager, Keitaro, so that Tsuruko wouldn't force her to leave Hinata Sou and take her place as heir too soon. The cost of failure? Making their deception into the ultimate reality. They would be wed that very day should they fail to defeat Motoko's sister by sunset.

But really, it was far more simple than all that. The reward for Motoko was life. The price of failure was death. She had nearly attempted to commit seppuku once already when her punishment was simply to live as a regular woman. There was no way she would stand for the added dishonor of being married to the man she so forcefully insisted was a pervert when his repeated bouts of clumsiness left him in compromising positions around the Inn turned girl's dormitory his Grandmother had left in his care.

_Not that being married to her would be horrible if she was actually willing to go through with it._ Keitaro conceded, before he berated himself for thinking like that. _No. Her life is the life of the warrior. No matter what, I have to help her regain that life. Even if it costs me everything. Even if I have to use it again._ he resolved.

And somewhere nearby, a purple-haired priest in white robes and carrying a ringed staff chuckled to himself without even bothering to open his eyes. "It's almost time, Fi-chan." the priest whispered.

If you listened closely, you would swear you could hear a faint "Namagomi no baka" carrying on the wind from some distant land in reply.

The last of Keitaro's resolve was fading fast. Su's bag of tricks had proven to be useless, and he wasn't much better hobbling around on a broken and casted leg like he was. _Not that I could, I don't know? Heal the damnable thing or anything. Any sign of something as unnatural as that and I'm a true ronin. Out of the family on mom's orders, disowned and dishonored. Goodbye Todai, promise girl, and my entire miserable life. Of course, if we lose here today I lose all that anyway, except for my name. But then I ruin Motoko's life in the process. Humph. I hate no win situations. Ojisan must be having a feast with how I feel right now. Damned Tsuruko! Damned mother! Damned yogurt-brained sword swinging ancestors and their archaic bullshit!_ he ranted in his head as he watched Motoko fall to her knees as her sword was shattered.

"Motoko-chan!" he cried as he limped to her side. Keitaro nearly broke into tears himself as he reached his tenant...no, his friend's side and saw her utter despair.

"U..ura...Urashima. Forgive me. I cannot best aneue. And now... You and Naru-sempai," Motoko brokenly wept as she realized she was not only chaining herself to a man she had come to secretly respect and care for (something that plagued her as she began to doubt if she could fight her hardest when she seemed to win a prize of her heart either way), but that she was ruining his chance with the woman he loved. A woman Motoko called her closest friend in the form of Narusegawa Naru.

"Motoko. Motoko, listen to me. We can still win. We will win. No matter what. I will not let you give up your life like that. This school is your world, and I won't let you throw it away," Keitaro whispered back with a forceful confidence few outside of his aunt Haruka, his sister Kanako, and his grandmother Hina would think him capable of as he knelt in front of her as best he could.

"It is impossible Keitaro. She is simply too good. I have failed, and now, you are stuck with the...the burden of that failure," Motoko whispered back with an air of utter defeat.

"Motoko-han is right, manager-san. It is over. Her spirit will take no more. I will prepare for the last arrangements for the ceremony," Tsuruko interjected from where she silently walked up behind the kneeling Keitaro.

Something seemed to snap behind Keitaro's eyes as he reached for the blade shard still connected to the katana's handle and gently took it from Motoko's grasp. The former three time ronin and recent Todai acceptee held the blade piece, a piece less than half the length of even a tanto, confidently in his right hand as he rose and turned to look Tsuruko right in the eye.

"No," he responded evenly. "We didn't come all this way and face all these hardships just to let you ruin your sister's life. We won't let it happen. **I** won't let it happen.

Tsuruko seemed almost amused as he raised her right brow and replied, "Oh? and what, exactly, will you do manager-san? Defeat me alone with only a broken piece of a blade while on one leg? Your determination is admirable, and your devotion to Motoko-han proves you will make a good husband for her, but I assure you that you are quite defeated." As she said this she added mentally, _If this doesn't reignite the fires in imouto-chan enough to make her fight back nothing will. I would certainly never tolerate such taunting of the one **I** love. Come sister, show me you're still there underneath that fear you've learned to wear as a blanket._

Keitaro shared none of her apparent mirth as he placed as much weight on his good leg as he could to make one good move before he emotionlessly responded, "I will do...whatever it takes."

With those grim words, Keitaro seemed to attempt a suicidal dash right for Tsuruko, a dash she easily leaped away from. Unfortunately of fortunately, even as Tsuruko mentally reproved and praised him all at once, and Motoko cried in fear for her belove...er friend, Keitaro showed his true move. "SHADOW SNAP." he cried out as he tossed the broken and jagged blade into the ground where Tsuruko's shadow lie.

It provided less than a second of distraction for Keitaro before the swordswoman realized the attack was not directed at her and she began to slowly stalk her 'prey' in an attempt to bolster Motoko into action with one of the nearby bokkens or practice blades still in the dojo. That plan fell to the wayside, however, when she discovered she could no longer move forward. She was not paralyzed, per sey, she was just stuck. It almost like some kind of barrier was rooting her to the ground, but she could sense no ki to fuel such a thing, and Motoko's manager would not be capable of such ki manipulation regardless. The swordswoman looked to see what could be holding her, only to discover Keitaro's discarded katana fragment was at the edge of her shadow, and she could not move beyond where the blade touched that shadow.

"What manner of sorcery is this?" the confused woman muttered to herself.

Keitaro smiled a gallows smile as he retorted, "Exactly," before adding the words "Flare Arrow!" and launching an arrow of red hot energy at Tsuruko. Between her distraction at his odd attack, and the unexpectedness of both his words and his follow up, Tsuruko was forced to act instinctively as she swiped her blade to deflect the incoming projectile. This served Keitaro's purposes perfectly as the elder Aoyama cried out in pain and tossed her now too hot to hold sword aside on instinct.

"Lord of the Darkness and Four Worlds, I beseech thy fragments; by all of the power thou possesseth, grant the heavens' wrath to my hand; unleash the sword of dark, freezing nothingness; by our power, our combined might, let us walk as one along the path of destruction: RAGNA BLADE!" Keitaro chanted as he formed an impossibly large blade of pure...emptiness between his hands and leveled it a Tsuruko's throat.

"I told you I would do whatever it took, Aoyama-sama. I suggest you yield. I have no desire to deny Motoko-chan her sister on the day we regained her legacy," Keitaro suggested with an icy tenseness after letting her register just how perilous her position really was.

"Keitaro. H-How?" Motoko asked in bewilderment from where she now stood, gawking, and what the man she once thought of as a useless, perverted, waste was doing.

"I'll explain soon, Motoko-chan. But first I have to hear something from Tsuruko-sama," Keitaro replied with obvious strain in his voice. He could only hold the Ragna Blade in this bluff for a few more seconds before he passed out. If he failed to get a surrender from the superior fighter in Tsuruko before she figured out the secret to escaping the Shadow Snap, he was done for. After all, he had no intention of actually trying to kill her.

The elder warrior looked the dorm manager squarely in the eyes with newfound respect as she smiled and said, "You win, manager-san. I yield."

"That's all I wanted to hear," Keitaro responded with a smile as the Ragna Blade vanished without a sound. Once the spell was gone, his hair faded to a snowy white as the exhausted Keitaro fell face first into the dirt, his body unconscious long before it hit the ground.

* * *

(The first part here will be a flashback/dream in Keitaro's head as he's passed out. As a result, it will all be in _italics_) 

_"Well, hello there, young man. How are you this fine morning?" asked a purple-haired man with a friendly, if creepy, smile as he knelt down beside a small crying boy in glasses in the park. His smile grew a bit brighter and the boy simply continued to weep. "Hmm, I'd say you're not doing too well at all. Why exactly is that?" _

"I'm lost," the boy finally admitted after several failed attempts to speak through his tears. "Mommy t..tu...took me here, but now I cants find her." the child no older than four admitted as he continued to cry.

"Well, that must be quite scary," the man responded with his ever present grin, even and his half closed eyes seemed to somehow narrow dangerously without actually moving. His unseen ire vanished as eerily as it appeared as his smiled a bit wider and said, "My name is Xellos, by the way. Metallium Xellos. What's your name?"

"U...uh...Urashima Keitaro." Keitaro replied as his sniffles lessened a bit. Talking to the strange man seemed to help. "But, I'm not s'posed ta talk to strangers."

"Ah, but we've already introduced ourselves, haven't we? That means we're not strangers anymore," Xellos reasoned happily. "So, since we're friends now, maybe you could tell me how old you are?"

Keitaro shyly held up four fingers before he looked expactantly toward the purple-headed man. "Oh, I'm much older than that. Much much older. Now, do you know where your mommy might have gone?" Xellos answered with a chuckle.

"Nuh-uh," Keitaro said sadly. "She jus' tol' me ta stay here an' keep quiet an' out of the way while she took carea stuff," the boy answered honestly.

"How long ago was that?" Xellos asked as his eyes did that narrowing without moving thing again.

"I dunno. When the other mommies and kids was still firs getting here. It was a whila ago," Keitaro replied.

"Hmmm, well it's just not right for you to be waiting here alone no matter what your mother said. Do you have anyone you trust you'd like to visit while you wait for you mother?" Xellos inquired.

After a few moments to think, Keitaro happily shouted, "Hina-baachan!"

"Hina, eh? Does she happen to own the Hinata Inn?" Xellos responded with a quirked brow.

"Yup. I visit there an see my friends Mu-chan and Na-chan over the summers," Keitaro responded as his earlier bad mood seemed to totally evaporate as he thought of his beloved grandmother.

"Then that's where we'll take you. Come along, young Keitaro," Xellos instructed.

Keitaro followed his orders without question, just as him mother insisted that he should, and followed Xellos to meet his grandmother.

As the strolled off into the distance, one could hear Xellos ask, "Keitaro-chan, have you ever thought about learning some neat magick tricks?"

* * *

"Namagomi-ojisan no baka," Keitaro muttered under his breath as he struggled back into a state of wakefulness from his mana-depletion enforced slumber. As his vision began to clear a bit he looked around and noticed he was in a futon in what had to be a room in the main house of the Aoyama compoud. To his right was a dozing Motoko kneeling beside him with a bowl of water and a washcloth, a small trail of drool beginning to pool at the left corner of her mouth. 

He studied Motoko's face for a moment before he thought to himself, _She must have been exhaused after the emtional roller coaster we just rode together. Boy she looks cute like that. No! No thinking of anyone by Narusegawa as cute. Those thoughts lead to nosebleeds and pummeling. Half of it **from** Motoko-cha...san._

"Motoko. Motoko." Keitaro prompted after a moment to collect himself as he reached over and gave her sholder a little shake. Well, that's what would have happened had not Tsuruko taken that moment to open the door to the room and enter. A sound that startled both enough to wake Motoko and make her shift slightly as Keitaro's hand went a bit errant and ended up on something far...softer than her shoulder.

Tsuruko looked on with great amusement as she smiled and commented, "My my, manager-san. You and Motoko-han may not have been faking after all. Please forgive my interruption,"

"Wha?" Keitaro intelligently replied as he looked to Motoko for clarification and noticed three things. One, was the slight embarassed flush on Motoko's cheeks. Another was that his hand was now placed somewhere entirely inappropriate for a man to touch without some kind of consent and commitment betwwen himself and his partner. The final thing was the angry tick growing by leaps and bounds over Motoko's right eye.

"Urashimaaaa!" Motoko furiously growled.

"Uwaaahhh!" Keitaro shouted in alarm as he retracted the offending hand as if it was on fire. "N..nu...no! I was just reaching to shake your shoulder when Tsuruko-sama came in and we must have shifted from the sound and it was an accident, I swear!" he whimpered/babbled as he prepared for his rightous punishment.

Motoko was all too willing to deliver that punishment until Tsuruko cleared her throat. "I think we have more important things to deal with than yours and manager-san's foreplay Motoko-han," Tsuruko gently adomonished.

Both younger prople in the room immediately reduced into nuclear-level blushes as Motoko sputtered out a scandalized, "A...a...aneue! I...it's not like that at all! He's just a hentai!"

Her elder sister smiled indulgently as she responded, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Motoko-han. You are at that age, and manager-san is a fine enough man I was willing to let him marry you. All that I ask is that you save it for in private, little sister. This is not the best time, and we still don't know how his sudden fainting spell might affect his endurance. I wouldn't want you to feel needlessly disappointed."

This earned even harder blushes as both forgot to follow through with their usual cat and mouse over Keitaro's clumsiness and sputtered mostly non-sensical denials in their haste to absolve themselves. (While trying to dispel the images those teasing comments brought about for each of them at the same time no matter how vehemently they would deny having them.)

Her face grew serious as Tsuruko looked squarely at Keitaro and said, "Now, I do believe we are due some explanations, manager-san.

END PART 1


	2. Chapter 2

Title: none yet

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: Drama/humor X-over

Rating: PG-13 to R at some point

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

Notes: My own unique take on the battle between Tsuruko, Motoko, and Keitaro. Title suggestions are appreciated.

Okay, this is just an idea that's been floating around that I thought I'd start here. Reviews, revisions, and criticism are welcome.

This starts off during the tail end of the fight with Tsuruko at the end of Ep. 25 and will run from there with very little following the rest of the story line in canon because it will involve a great deal more of the Aoyama family than was used after the fight. Also, Naru isn't my favorite character. I don't hate her, and I'll try not to bash, but you have been warned.

Summary: What if Keitaro had another ace in the hole to tap besides Su's explosives and the Hina blade? How will that change everything from that point on? To quote a certain fruitcake priest...sore wa himitsu desu.

* * *

_Indicates Thoughts._

"Indicates Speech."

Indicates foreign speech.

* * *

Keitaro took a deep breath as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Well, where to begin," the kanrinrin mused aloud. 

"The beginning is usually the best place," Tsuruko replied with a calm smile.

Keitaro actually smirked in response to that comment, something that shocked Motoko. Keitaro _never_ smirked. He grimaced, he chuckled nervously, occasionally he'd smile with a boyish grin that would light up the room and unknowingly (to him) cause several of the Hinata residents to have dreams that favored him more predominantly than normal for days afterward, but still he didn't smirk. If she said so herself, it showed his relation to Haruka more than any expression he had ever shown.

"Well, in the beginning there was the Sea of Chaos, made by the body of the Lord of Nightmares, who split herself into four pillars to create the four Great Realms..." Keitaro began with a lecture he had been given a long time ago by a certain blond teahouse merchant that had experience to put his aunt Haruka to shame. "But I don't think you meant quite that far back, Aoyama-sama," he teased with a closed eyed smile he had picked up from a purple haired priest that had introduced him to the blond tea merchant.

Tsuruko laughed daintily as she shook her head and replied, "Indeed I did not, although that sounded like a most interesting rendition of the story of creation. Perhaps you could continue it at another time, manager-san."

Keitaro's small bit of good cheer evaporated as he countenance grew grim and he replied, "I'd save your decision to want to associate with me further until after my explanation and the consequences of my actions become clear, Aoyama-sama. I doubt a noble family such as yours will want me on your lands after that."

Motoko looked troubled as she reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder and asked, "What could you feel would be that bad, Kei, uh, Urashima?"

The dorm manager sighed to himself and laughed bitterly as he answered, "It's not so much that I feel it's bad Motoko-chan. It's what others in my family, my mother in particular, think that will cause problems."

Tsuruko immediately had an idea of just what the young man before her was saying, but had no intention of letting it cloud her judgment until the details were known. Although if what he had just said meant what she believed she was going to be very cross with someone very soon. After all, Urashima had more than proven himself a worthy friend of the Aoyama clan in general, and Motoko-han in particular, this day. "I think it would be best to reserve judgment until the facts are made clear, manager-san. Let us begin with what you have done here and now, and then move from there," the elder Aoyama suggested.

Keitaro chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head and responded, "Well, that might be had to believe without a little of the back story, but I'll try. Actually, you had it right outside, Tsuruko-sama. You called it sorcery. That's exactly what it was."

"Indeed," Tsuruko murmured as she contemplated his words. "And please, manager-san, call me Tsuruko-san. There's no need to be as formal as to refer to me as -_sama_, we were practically family, after all," she added with a wicked grin.

"Aneue, this is no time to tease Keitaro like that," Motoko protested with a deep blush.

"Ah, but things were getting far too tense in here, Motoko-han. Sometimes a little humor helps to clear the air for everyone. You always were a bit too serious at times," Tsuruko retorted. Her attention returned to Keitaro as she said, "Please continue, manager-san."

"Keitaro-san, please, Tsuruko-san," Urashima replied.

Which, in turn irritated Motoko a bit. The last thing she needed in her life was the pervert ronin cozying up to her sister. She could never compete with Tsuruko, after all. Um, to punish him, that is. Yeah. Punish. But not in the whips and chocolate sauce way she describes in the next chapter of her novel. No. Certainly not.

"Are you alright, imouto-chan? You look a bit glazed and flushed," Tsuruko replied with a knowing grin. Honestly, the girl's ki practically sang with what she felt for the man lying between them. She might have to intervene at some point further if Motoko could not get over her own fears and insecurities. Just because one plan failed didn't mean another might not succeed.

"Oh! I'm fine, aneue. I'm just eager to hear Urashima's explanation of his apparent skill in sorcery. He's never shown anything like it before," she dodged, even if it was a truthful dodge.

Keitaro looked somber once more as he responded, "That's because I'm forbidden from using my sorcery. If I wasn't, I'd have healed my leg and been attending my first semester at Todai right now."

"Forbidden? By whom?" Motoko inquired with a furrowed brow.

"Officially, the entire Urashima-ryu of martial arts at the very least. In reality, it's mostly my mother who hates it. She doesn't like the idea of me doing something so 'unnatural', in her words," Keitaro answered tiredly.

"What is unnatural about magick? It is something that requires talent, discipline, and skill to master just as any martial art does. It's no different than the ki attacks of the Shinmeiryu, or the spells and blessings of the mikos and monks we employ to aid us in our devil hunting," Motoko protested immediately.

"Try telling **her** that," Keitaro explained with a sigh. "When I first used spells in front of her she convinced my father to ban me from learning the family ryu. The consequences for using it again will be...more severe."

Motoko was going to press for him to elaborate, but was cut off with a gesture from her sister. "That can wait for later, Motoko-han. I'm more interested in how Keitaro-san has mastered a nearly dead art form like true sorcery to such a degree. I've never seen the like of that...Ragna Blade was it?" Tsuruko asked.

Keitaro looked deadly serious as he responded, "And I hope you never will again. That was one of the most powerful Black Magic spells in existence and even using it like that was going too far. I apologize for that. I needed something that I could sustain and force a surrender without actually hurting you. that was the first thing to pop into my head."

"Black Magic! You used evil spells against my sister! Urashima you dishonorable pervert!" Motoko began to rage.

"MOTOKO!" Tsuruko snapped in irritation. "You will maintain a cool head and avoid insulting guests of this school while you are under this roof. Keitaro is still explaining what transpired and I will not have you make things more difficult for him for the sake of nursing your own insecurities."

Motoko looked physically ill at the reprimand as she responded, "Forgive me aneue. It's just that...", before she trailed off.

"Black Magic is supposed to be evil. I know, Motoko-san. It's what most people think. It's not right, but it's what they think. Really, it's just spells that draw on a chaos-based demon called a mazoku to focus the energy. Or, occasionally on the Lord of Nightmares herself. Really, the only reason people think it's evil is because it relies on the mazoku, which are supposed to be polar opposites to the kami. But that's a little off kilter because both kami and mazoku come from L-sama, anyway. The colors of sorcery are more about what they do than what their intent is. Black destroys and is good for a fight. White heals. Shamanism channels nature. It's more about balance than good or evil," Keitaro tried to explain.

"And just how is something using a demon for a focus not evil?" Motoko insisted.

"Some view the mazoku as a kind of kami, Motoko-han. And not all kami are inherently good. Do not be so hasty as to judge by names alone," Tsuruko warned.

"Of course sister. Forgive me, Urashima," Motoko replied with a bowed head in the face of the chastisement.

"Um, it's ok, Motoko-chan," Keitaro replied with a small bit of confusion. He hardly expected Tsuruko to defend him like that, or for Motoko to apologize to him.

"Well, anyway," Keitaro continued, "you wanted to know where I learned my sorcery from. My first tutor was a wandering priest, who is actually a high ranking mazoku, by the name of Xellos. He found me in the park when I was four after mother had left me there while she ran errands and brought me to granny Hina. He had recognized the talent in me and wanted to develop it."

"Wait. Your mother left you alone in the park at the age of four?" Tsuruko asked with a very Motoko-esque eye-twitch. A twitch that was matched by her younger sister's. Neither were happy with the image of neglect that action conjured.

"Mother always was a bit flightly about things like that," Keitaro responded with a disinterested shrug. He was used to his mom's quirks. "Anyway, it turned out that Xellos and Granny were actually acquaintances from when she was younger and she allowed him to train me over the summers so long as I consented. He became like an uncle to me after that. I even call him uncle when I see him, although I can assure you there's no blood relation between us. So that my personal spell count would be more balanced, he introduced me to an old...friend of his, a Golden Dragon named Filia Ul Copt. She taught me things like healing and how to center myself to use shamanism spells like the Flare Arrow. She's the only other person besides Haruka-obasan I call auntie. In fact, she's the one who taught obasan all she knows about running a tea shop."

Tsuruko nodded in understanding as she tried to take in all that was said. Only one more thing needed to be addressed. "And the consequences of using your gifts to save Motoko-han will be what, exactly?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Keitaro sighed as Motoko looked on with deep interest. "For right now, not much. They'll probably send the last of my things to the Hinata-sou and bar me from the family home. Once Granny passes on, though, I'll be cast out and declared ronin. Mom can't do it now because Granny is the clan head, and not dad, but when that's no longer the case it's the end for me. She won't have that kind of perversion against nature in her family," Keitaro explained with the barest trace of the real bitterness he felt at that thought. It was the need for an heir in case he slipped like this that made his mother push to adopt Kanako years ago.

Of course Kanako had her own ideas about being the perfect heir. Most of them centered around bringing her Oniichan back into the clan the old fashioned way if he were cast out...by marrying him back in to the only remaining heir.

* * *

It was a couple of hours and a hearty meal at Tsuruko's insistence later that a tired, but much more human feeling, Keitaro found himself sitting outside as he surveyed the part of the Aoyama compound's courtyard that had been his and Motoko's final battle ground. 

"I really screwed up this time," he muttered to himself.

One could understand his shock then when he heard a familiar voice respond, "Oh I don't know; it looked alright to me, even if you are a bit rusty. But if you insist on making yourself feel bad over this well...thanks for the meal."

Needless to say, Keitaro jumped up in shock at the sound of the voice, which caused him to land on his bad leg. That in turn made the kanrinrin of Hinato Sou let out a wail of pain as he hopped around on his good leg until he tripped over a shrub and landed gracelessly on his rear end. "God damn you ojisan! Don't do that you... you... NAMAGOMI-baka!" Keitaro shouted as he looked into the hooded eyes and smiling visage of the Wandering Priest himself, Metallium Xellos.

"And the meal keeps on coming. You always were such a _generous_ student, Kei-chan," Xellos replied with an inane grin.

Keitaro looked like he wanted to shout and carry on, but he knew from experience it would only encourage and amuse the mazoku in front of him. Instead he chose to take the higher road and simply struggled back to his feet. "I take it you felt it, then?" he asked evenly.

"Your releasing the powers your mother paid ever so **much** to have 'sealed' away in you? Oh yes. I wonder if she ever understood that the only legitimate portion of that ridiculous ceremony she hired to have done was the mana crystal that will let her know you used _your_ personal mana? Although I must question using the Ragna Blade in that situation. A simple Digger Volt or a Burst Flare would have sufficed to win the battle," Xellos admonished with a sinister smile.

Keitaro snorted angrily as he responded, "And most likely kill Tsuruko-sama in the process. No thank-you. It may have been stupid and overkill, but the 'Blade was the first thing I could think of that I could sustain that she'd understand was dangerous and would surrender in the face of. It was a total bluff and you know it, ojisan. Even if it was a panic reaction."

"Yes. You did seem to pick up dear Fil-chan's respect for life. Well life other than mine, that is. More is the pity," Xellos sighed dramatically.

The two stood there for a while after that statement, both comfortable in the silence of the evening. Finally, Keitaro asked a question, even though he knew what answer he'd receive. "So, what are you doing here?" he asked with a tired sigh.

"Now that..." Xellos began.

"...is a secret," Keitaro finished with a bored tone of voice, only to back up as Xellos opened his eyes wide enough to glare at the young man.

"I hope I'll not have to warn you about that again, Kei-chan. It would be a pity to have to...discipline you," Xellos warned witha sickly sweet leer.

"Sorry," Keitaro eeped. He knew how far he could push things with the demon before him, and he was skating dangerously close to the edge.

"Regardless, it was good to see you, Kei-chan. I know I'll see you again soon," Xellos responded with a friendly smile.

"Keitaro," Motoko's voice called back from the house, which made the young kanrinrin look away toward the sound. He was wholly unsurprised when he glanced back to where Xellos had stood to see him gone.

* * *

"You need something Motoko-san?" Keitaro asked when the raven haired beauty was near enough to hear him. 

"Aneue would like to speak with you privately about some things she wanted to clear up from your explanation. You can find her in the antechamber to the main audience hall," Motoko responded with a subdued bow of her head.

"Um...ok," Keitaro replied nervously, unsure just what Tsuruko would want him for right now. (And no, you hentais it's not THAT. At least not in this fic. Well, maybe not. Depends on my muse really.)

As the manager of the place she had come to think of as her home passed, Motoko couldn't help but ask, "Why? Why did you do that for me? Was it really worth the risk of being made nameless?" _Am I really that undesirable that being made ronin was better than marrying me?_ her mind added silently.

Keitaro gave that boyish grin that made her feel weak in the knees as he responded, "Because you wouldn't be happy without the sword. It's your life. That was reason enough."

The touching moment would have been more meaningful if Keitaro's habitual clumsiness hadn't kicked in as he tried to go on his way and caused him to trip and land in an undignified heap in the doorway Motoko had just come through. "Ouch," he whined pathetically with a grimace.

"Hopeless," Motoko sighed with thinly veiled fondness as she watched the embarrassed young sorcerer struggle back to his feet and make his way to meet her older sister. Once he was out of sight, Motoko scanned the area before heading off to the onsen for a soak. She had not taken the time to clean up since the battle with her sister since she had immediately tended to the unconscious Keitaro after he had fainted, and the subsequent events had taken too much of her time.

* * *

"Ah, Keitaro-san, I see Motoko-han found you at last," Tsuruko greeted with a welcoming grin. 

"Yeah," Keitaro replied with a nervous scratch to the back of his head. "Motoko said you wanted to talk to me Tsuruko-sama?"

"I thought we agreed you could call me something less formal, Keitaro-san," Tsuruko retorted with a slight narrowing of her eyes that sent shivers down Keitaro's spine.

"Sorry, Tsuruko-san" the young man back-pedaled nervously as he made warning gestures with his hands.

"That's better," Tsuruko replied with a smile. "Please, Keitaro-san, have a seat."

Once the kanrinrin was seated Tsuruko looked him right in the eye as she said, "I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize to you, Keitaro-san. I had hoped this entire episode would spark something in Motoko-han, something that would re-ignite her enthusiasm in her art to new levels. Instead, I forced you to do something that may irrevocably damage your own life. I ask your forgiveness for this."

Keitaro looked shell-shocked as he stammered, "I...it.wuh..it was nothing, Tsuruko-san."

"Paving the way to be declared _ronin_ is not _nothing_ Keitaro-san. You are bound for Todai come the next semester, you own and manage the very dormitory Motoko has taken such a shine to, and you have proven yourself to be a selfless and determined friend and warrior. I must confess, some small part of me is saddened that you defeated me. You would have made a wonderful brother-in-law," Tsuruko shot back. As she said this she thought to herself, _And making you an Aoyama might be one way to save you from your predicted future._

Keitaro swallowed nervously before he responded, "I think it would not have been so bad to be a part of your family either, Tsuruko-san. But I did what I had to for Motoko-chan's sake. Our lie and this bet would have killed her if we had failed. That was **not** an option for me."

"Of course," Tsuruko replied with a knowing smile that reminded Keitaro far too much of Xellos for his liking.

"Still, I appreciate your concern. Don't worry too much. Granny has more than enough years left for me to at least finish school and get situated in life. From there, I'll have to see where matters take me," Keitaro finally commented.

"Well, I would like to formally state that you will have friends within this school no matter what the future may bring, Keitaro-san," Tsuruko responded with a comforting smile. It was too bad for Kei-kun that his missed the transformation of that smile into something more mischievous as Tsuruko said, "Now I imagine you have had a long day. I recommend you take a trip to the onsen, and then get a good nights sleep to recover your strength."

Keitaro smiled gratefully as he replied, "Thank you very much. For both you friendship and your offer. I think I could use a good soak."

With that said the pair made their goodbyes as Keitaro hobbled down to the onsen to bathe.

With a wicked grin on her lips as she watched the kanrinrin leave, Tsuruko thought to herself, _If at first you don't succeed, Motoko-han. Just remember you might be his way out of his dilemma if you take the opportunity. Now, if I know my sister she should be in the onsen as well at this time, so let's see if she's willing to admit..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a house shaking shaking shout of **"URASHIMA YOU PERVERT! SHINMEIRYU SPECIAL TECHNIQUE, ROCK SPLITTING SWORD!"** followed by a shriek and a crash.

"Sigh. I guess you're still not ready yet, imouto-chan," Tsuruko lamented sadly. "Hopeless."

END PART 2


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